The Sundered Tower
by Theatregirls2317
Summary: Herefore lies the adventures of a dwarf, a gnome, a dark elf, a wood elf, and a human as they journey to find themselves and their purposes in life, all the while discovering how useful a team can be. (Sorry, I'm really bad at summaries)
1. The Meeting

On the day that they met, not one of them could have guessed the journey that was about to embark them. Idelisa Farstone sat in the corner of the small bar completely alone aside from her pet ram, Moridan, watching and waiting. She wanted nothing to do with anyone in this town, no connection to come back, but she felt herself drawn to the spot, almost as if the promise of something interesting hung in the air. She easily escaped the notice of most of the bar's patrons as she was a dwarf and people were drinking like crazy. Her instinct told her to be alert so she didn't allow herself to partake in the festivities.

She was very glad she did so; at that particular moment a woman burst through the door, arrow in her leg, screaming about a stolen child.

"My child! They stole my son! Please someone! Anyone help!"

Idelisa held back. This woman was someone else's problem, not her's. Luckily, someone else did. A young human man walked up to the woman, who had made her way over to the bartender. He had a certain air about him that drew her curiosity. His flamboyance was outrageously explosive and obvious as he spoke, consoling the woman. A second young man stepped up, this one clearly different than the first but with seemingly similar intentions. A dark elf. She snorted to herself. This woman was doomed for if this was the pair that had set out to save her son. The elf was looking around for any other willing patrons who had a sudden urge for adventure. She slid down further into her seat and pulled Moridan closer to her. A gnome girl slid forward. She was decorated with a grand bow that seemed not to befit her person.

"I wanna go. I'm valuable. I'm a good shot. You need me."

"Great!" the human exclaimed with a smile, "one more person oughta do the trick. If the situation is really as bad as you say it is."

The dark elf's eyes found her and ran over her. "You. Come with us. We can use your help."

"You don't know me," she replied. "You don't know what I can do. You DO realize that I'm a dwarf right?"

The elf shook his head. "I've got a feeling. This is fate."

"I'll pay," the woman cried.

Idelisa found herself reluctantly agreeing. This was not in any way a part of her plan. She left her people in the promise that she would find more of their tribe and reunite them. The mountains were very far away now; she'd be straying from all of her ideals. But she would be payed and she wouldn't be stuck in the city any longer.

"Let's go," she said quietly as she grabbed one of the bounty posters on the wall. The others stared at her in slight disbelief. "What? If we can make a bit of extra money on the side, why wouldn't we?"

The new group took off walking in the direction that the woman pointed out to them in nearly complete silence. After a few awkward moments, the human man took out his harp and began to play a small ditty. A bard. The gnome whipped her head around and sent him a glare. "If we're trying to track this thing, your music isn't going to help any."

He shrugged sheepishly. "I had to break the silence somehow. I'm not used to noiselessness. I'm Isaac, by the way. Isaac Venestis."

"Jade."

"Igen," the dark elf put in.

"Idelisa. Now I suggest you hush. I hear something."

She checked the tracks carefully. "Owlbear. Somewhere around here. We can take the paws and sell them. Bounty sheet."

Isaac kind of looked weary. "Us? I'm not really a fighter."

"Neither am I, but money is money."

She turned back around to look at the other two, but Jade had completely disappeared. Igen shrugged. "She's in the tree. I'm a healer. Why not? We can eat the meat."

Idelisa shook her head. "I'm a vegetarian. I can help with the skinning though. I'm very good at it."

"So we're fighting it then?" Isaac asked. The others nodded. Jade shot at the owlbear, striking the creature square in the back. It was a considerable bit larger than any one of them and stronger by a mile. All four of them would have to work together. Using a combination of various distraction techniques and spells, the three magic wielders fought the owlbear, Jade striking from below. Idelisa turned towards Igen and looked at him, questioningly.

"Cleric," he said by means of response. She nodded. The way Jade was shooting, she must be a rogue. This had shaped up to be a very interesting group indeed. She turned her head back towards the fight and observed for a moment. She had never grown up a hunter; her people had always been herders, nomads. Isaac finished the creature off as she was lost in her thoughts and was greeted with a hearty argument when she finally returned to the present predicament.

"Well Igen, you're a prick. There's only three salvageable paws and I'm giving one to Jade and one to Lisa and keeping the other to myself," Isaac said angrily. Igen huffed and turned back around.

"We have a job to do. Let's just save the kid."


	2. The Boy

The group walked in silence for a bit until they came to the base of a hill. Atop it sat a slightly dilapidated castle guarded by two goblins. Igen made direct eye contact with Idelisa and nodded. It was almost as if they could read each other's thoughts. All at once, Igen sent forth a voice from the dancing lights that Isaac had cast into the clearing, distracting one goblin and drawing him away from the doors, at the same time as Idelisa sent forth Moridan. He battered the second goblin into the door.

"Shall we?" she asked. The others nodded, a bit in awe of how easy the first part was and in high hopes that the rest of the rescue would be equally so. They crossed around to the side where they found a large broken window. Jade disappeared for a few moments and returned, concern written all over her face.

"The kid is tied down to a table. There are four or five goblins in here, some are asleep some are alert. There is a huge Bug Bear standing near the boy. It looks like they're planning to sacrifice him or something? But for what, I don't know. There are four windows though. We can each take one and go from there?"

"No plan?" Igen asked. It had already become clear to the rest of them that Igen would be the unspoken leader. He was calculating, the brains behind their brawn.

Jade shook her head. "We didn't have a plan going into the owlbear fight and that worked out well."

Igen sighed. He began whispering strange words to himself, not making eye contact with any of them, ending with the name Soverus. The group looked at him curiously as he shook his head. "Are we going or not?"

Idelisa turned and took first position, staying close to the door but perched in the left window. She made eye contact with Moridan and nodded. He burst through the door, causing a great ruckus. Jade took advantage of the commotion and shot one of the goblins without any trouble. By then, their plan was fairly compromised, their attention taken by the goblins on the floor. Only was the small boy remembered when an unnatural noise came from the table as he writhed in searing pain.

Igen whipped around and focused his attention on the Bugbear in front of him. It appeared as though if he was gone, the ceremony would cease to progress. He was far larger than even the owlbear and was a much harder target to hit. They had to try though. He motioned towards Idelisa, who joined him from behind one of the dilapidated pillars in the room.

"We just need to distract him until the others get done dealing with the rest of these stupid goblins," she whispered breathily. Igen nodded. He sent forth more voices which appeared from behind four suits of armor leaned one in each corner of the room at the same time as Idelisa spun her quarterstaff in the air and sent forth a puff of noxious gas that did little to phase the Bugbear. The voices got his attention however and led him into clear range of Jade's bow. Isaac chimed in, taunting the thing and physcologically attacking it. That allowed Jade to strike it with yet another arrow, this one precisely aimed for the eye. It struck true causing it to stumble and fall dead on the ground. The four had barely turned from the body when a tumultuous tremor shook the entire building. The boy's form twisted and contorted as it lifted from the table. Hooves grew in place of his feet and a long snout appeared from his lengthening face. Hair sprung up from every visible part of his skin. Larger and larger he grew until he was clearly not human sized any longer. Before them in the place of the boy stood a minotaur. It snorted loudly and charged off out of the castle and down the hill towards the town. Isaac looked at the rest of the group.

"It's been a long day. Might as well nap before we head back to tell that lady we lost her son."

"Let's take watches," Igen said. "Idelisa and I will take first lookout. You two go sleep."

They sat in awkward silence for a bit until Igen finally asked, "What's your story?"

Idelisa shrugged. "I come from goat herders up north. I told my parents that I wouldn't come back until I found more of our people. More dwarfs. Moridan's the only friend I've ever really had and the only companion I need. I'm no fighter but I do what I have to."

Another awkward silence befell the two before Igen spoke up again. "I'm drow royalty. A noble. But I hate my family. My people… You have such strong ties to yours, I detest mine. I left to follow Soverus and will continue to do so as I grow in my servitude."

Idelisa nodded. She understood very well what it was like to have that overwhelming drive, that loyalty. Looking over at the other two, she debated as to whether she should wake them or leave them be, finally resorting to shaking Isaac awake and letting him take care of Jade. She decided she would much rather take her chances with him as she lay down curling herself up by the wall.

Isaac and Jade took their places by the entrance to the castle. He turned towards his new gnome friend and clapped his hands. "So who are you? I mean, who is Jade?"

She smiled. "I guess you know I'm a folk hero then?"

He shook his head adamantly. "No idea."

Jade frowned and clasped her tiny hands. "Well, I was part of a normal gnome society until the king took all of our weaponry. Now I couldn't have that so I went and fought and got them back. Everyone knows my name back home, they all love me. I wanted more adventure however, so I left. And here we are. What's your story?"

Isaac's face lit up in a huge grin. "Well, you see, …"

By the time they finished talking, the sun was on its way up. Sighing, Igen stood and looked at his companions. "We should probably go back now. We've got to tell that mom that we lost her kid."

Idelisa frowned but stood up nonetheless, slinging her quarterstaff over her back. For a group that had failed to do what they had set out to accomplish, their spirits were awfully high. The journey back felt half the time that it had felt getting there. They received a real slap in the face however when they reached the small town they had left only days before. The minotaur boy lay dead on the ground, the priest dead beside him. The woman sat just outside of the pub waiting on news of her son, not knowing that the beast resting beside her was that whom she was expecting. The startled group stopped to observe the scene in slight shock. Idelisa was the first to break free walking over to the woman with Isaac hot in tow. She quickly apologized to the woman, claiming they had done everything they could, that the ritual was already complete by the time they had the opportunity to do anything. The woman looked up at them sadly, not ready to respond right away. Eventually, she nodded and they moved along. To their right sat a small man in a cart.

"I'm heading to Miresford, you guys want a ride?"

They stared at each other a moment having an intense mind conversation before they finally agreed on taking the cart on to the next town, some more reluctant than others.

"My name's Carter! Welcome aboard my cart."


End file.
